( March 31, 1778 - November 6, 1781 )

Continental Congressman from Delaware
( 1774-1776 & 1782-1783 )

• 1st Governor to server longer than 7 months in office (3 years - 8 months)
• 1st Governor from Kent County
• 1st Governor born in Delaware
• 1st Governor to be elected as a Bachelor
• 2nd Governor to be elected to office
• Signer of the Declaration of Independence
• There is no known portrait of Caesar Rodney
• Brother of "Congressman Thomas Rodney"
• Uncle of "Senator Caesar Augustus Rodney"
• Cousin of "Congressman George Brydges Rodney"

  " Caesar Rodney Statue " in the U.S. Capitol Building

Date & Place of Birth:
     October 7, 1728 - Dover, Delaware

Parents:
     Caesar and Mary Crawford Rodney

Married:
     Never married
     Children:
          None

Facts about his life:

• Completed preparatory studies
• Engaged in agricultural pursuits
• High Sheriff of Kent County 1755-1758
• Justice of the Peace
• Judge of all Lower Courts
• Captain in the Kent County Militia in 1756
• Superintendent of the printing of Delaware currency in 1759
• Elected in 1762 to serve in the "Assembly of the Lower Three Counties Upon Delaware" and served until 1769
• Superintendent of the loan office in 1769
• Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court 1769-1777
• Member of the Continental Congress from Delaware 1774-1776
• Served in the Revolutionary Army as a Brigadier General
• Elected by the General Assembly as the 4th President ( "Governor" ) of Delaware on March 31, 1778 receiving 20 of 24 votes and served until November 6, 1781
• Elected to the Continental Congress from Delaware in 1782 and 1783 but did not serve due to health (cancer)
• There is no known portrait of Caesar Rodney ... The statue above (In the U.S. Capital) is only an artist impression of what he may have looked like.

Date & place of death:
     June 25, 1784 - Dover, Delaware - Age 56

Place of burial:
     Byfield Family Plot, Dover, Delaware (exact grave unmarked, unknown)
     A monument in his honor was placed at Christ Episcopal Church, Dover, Delaware

Home(s):
     Poplar Grove
     (No longer standing, site in the vicinity of Moore's Lake, Dover, Delaware)

"Click Here" for a Biography of Governor Rodney
"Click Here" for Governor Rodney's "Find A Grave" record.

( November 13, 1781 - November 4, 1782 )

Continental Congressman from Delaware
( 1779 )

" John Dickinson "  ( Official State Portrait )

• Resigned office to become Governor of Pennsylvania
• Signer of the U.S. Constitution representing Delaware
• Received "one" negative vote in the Delaware State Senate to become Governor of Delaware - the negative vote was his own
• 3rd Governor to be elected to office
• Brother of "Continental Congressman Philemon Dickinson"

Date & Place of Birth:
     November 13, 1732 - On his father’s estate, “Crosiadoré,”
     near Trappe, Talbot County, Md.

Parents:
     Samuel & Mary Cadwalader Dickinson

Married:
     Mary Norris - in 1770 - ( ?? - 1803 )
     Children:
          Sally - never married
          Maria - married Albanus Charles Logan of Philadelphia, Pa.

Facts about his life:

• Moved with his parents in 1740 to Dover, Delaware
• Studied under a private teacher; studied law in Philadelphia and at the Middle Temple in London
• Admitted to the bar in 1757 and commenced practice in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Elected in 1759 to serve in the "Assembly of the Lower Three Counties Upon Delaware" and served until 1760
• Served in the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1762 and 1764
• Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765
• Member from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress 1774-1776
• Member from Delaware to the Continental Congress 1779
• Brigadier General of Pennsylvania Militia
• Served in the Delaware State Senate in 1781
• Elected by the Delaware General Assembly as the 5th President ( "Governor" ) of Delaware receiving 25 of 26 votes (his vote being the only negative vote) and served from November 13, 1781 until November 4, 1782 when he resigned to become President (Governor) of Pennsylvania
• Returned to Philadelphia and served as President of Pennsylvania 1782-1785
• Returned to Delaware; was a member of the Federal convention of 1787 which framed the Constitution and was one of the signers from Delaware

Date & place of death:
     February 14, 1808 - Wilmington, Delaware - Age 75

Place of burial:
     Quaker Meeting House, Wilmington, Delaware

Home(s):
     Northwest corner of 8th and Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware (No longer standing)

"Click Here" for a Biography of John Dickinson
"Click Here" to view his boyhood home, a Delaware Museum
"Click Here" for Governor Dickinson's "Find A Grave" record.
"Click Here" to see a High School in Delaware named in his honor
"Click Here" to see a College in Pennsylvania named in his honor

( November 4, 1782 - February 1, 1783 )
( " Assumed Term of Gov. John Dickinson upon his resignation " )

• There is no known portrait of John Cook
• Brother-In-Law of "Governor Thomas Collins"
• Father-In-Law of "Governor John Clark"
• Great Grandfather of "Senator Anthony C. Higgins"

Date & Place of Birth:
     1730 - Smyrna, Delaware

Parents:
     John & Margaret (_____) Cook

Married:
     Elizabeth Collins - sister of "Governor Thomas Collins", she was also her husband's 1st cousin
     Children:
          Sarah - married Delaware's 21st Governor "John Clark"
          Margaret - married Israel Peterson
          Elizabeth - ( 1764-1847 ) - married Ebenezer Cloak - "Online Memorial"
          Michael
          Robert

Facts about his life:

• Sheriff of Kent County prior to the Revolutionary War
• Served in Delaware's 1st General Assembly in the House from 1776-1779
• Appointed Associated Justice of the State of Delaware Court in 1777
• Served in the Delaware State Senate - 1780-1783 - Speaker of the Senate in 1783
• Assumed the office of President ( "Governor" ) on November 4, 1782 due to being the Speaker of the Senate after "Governor John Dickinson" resigned and served until February 1, 1783
• Military Service: None

Date & place of death:
     October 27, 1789 - Smyrna, Delaware - Age 59

Place of burial:
     St. Peters Cemetery, Smyrna, Delaware (Unmarked grave)

Home(s):
     Route 13, across the street and west of "Belmont Hall" (No Longer Standing)

"Click Here" for Governor Cook's "Find A Grave" record.

( February 1, 1783 - October 27, 1786 )

Continental Congressman from Delaware
( 1777 - 1781 )

" Home of Gov. Van Dyke " ( Amstel House )

• Signer of the U.S. Articles of Confederation
• 4th Governor to be elected to office
• Father of "Senator Nicholas Van Dyke, Jr."
• Grandfather of "Congressman Kensey Johns, Jr."

Date & Place of Birth:
     September 25, 1738 - Near Delaware City, Delaware

Parents:
     Nicholas & Rachael Allee Van Dyke - (originally of Flatbush, Long Island, N.Y.)

Married (1st):
     Elizabeth Nixon - ( ?? - 1767 )
     Children:
          Rachael - mother & daughter died in 1767

Married (2nd):
     Charlotte Stanley - ( 1747 - 1807 )
     Children:
          Nancy Ann - married Kensey Johns, Sr.
          Mary - ( ??-1831 )
          Nicholas, Jr. - ( 1769-1826 ) - became a "U.S. Senator"
          Henry - Died at sea in the U.S. Navy

Facts about his life:

• Studied law in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Admitted to the bar in 1765 and commenced practice in New Castle County, Delaware
• Delegate to the Delaware State Constitutional Convention in July 1776
• Elected a member of the Council of Delaware in 1777, serving as speaker in 1779
• Appointed Judge of Admiralty February 21, 1777
• Member of the Continental Congress for Delaware - 1777-1781
• Elected by the General Assembly as the 7th President ( "Governor" ) of Delaware by defeating past Governor "John McKinly" and receiving 18 of 30 votes. Served from February 1, 1783 to October 27, 1786
• Military Service: None

Date & place of death:
     February 19, 1789 - Near Delaware City, Delaware - Age 49

Place of burial:
     Immanual Church Cemetery, New Castle, Delaware

Home(s):
     "Amstel House", 4th & Delaware Streets, New Castle, Delaware
     "Click Here" to visit the Amstel House Website

"Click Here" for Governor Van Dyke's "Find A Grave" record.

( October 28, 1786 - March 29, 1789 )

" Gov. Collin's Signature "

• 1st Governor to die in Office
• Was the only Governor to be elected Unanimously
• He organized and maintained at his own expense a brigade during the Revolutionary War
• Was Governor during the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by Delaware in 1787
• There is no known portrait of Thomas Collins
• 5th Governor to be elected to office
• A State Office Building currently in use was named in his honor. It is located at 540 South DuPont Highway (U.S. Route 13) in Dover, Delaware.
• Brother-In-Law of "Governor John Cook"

Date & Place of Birth:
     1732 - Near Smyrna, Delaware

Parents:
     Unknown